Life Among the Vines
In one of our vineyard blocks, the vines are around thirty years old, and I’m told this is likely to be their last harvest. Most vines become far less productive around that age, and unless there is some mitigating factor - unusual vigor, or a plan to market them as “old vine” wines - they are pulled up and replaced. We have some vines that are in their fifties, but even they at some point will reach the end of their lives. They will die from disease or old age, they’ll be uprooted, and other vines will take their place.
Perhaps that sounds morose, but as a former pastor the life cycle and mortality are familiar territory. Unlike many religious folks, even back then, I didn’t have much interest in the afterlife. I was more interested in what might happen after my life, not to me, but to this world I inhabit that will bear some imprint of me and my legacy when I am gone. Now that I’m not particularly religious, I think more about what happens after transition, after death, to the space that’s left behind. In my own life, the vines I chose to grow and tend for a long time were those that produced a distinctly Christian spiritual life and a ministry within the Church. As all things eventually do, those vines reached the end of their viable lifespan. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve felt a bit like this vineyard is still stabilizing from how abruptly and perhaps violently those vines were uprooted.
And yet, I’ve also been watching the baby Merlot and Petit Verdot grow where Cabernet was once planted. We won't get fruit from them for a couple more years, but they’re there, putting down roots and learning to thrive (we hope). They spent a year in the nursery before coming to us, and it occurs to me that my life in California and in the wine industry is of the same age as those tiny vines, still wearing their protective plastic sleeves. If this replanting of my own life feels a bit tender and vulnerable, that is as much part of the cycle as the necessary uprooting of what came before.
Now, enough self reflection; on to the news.
The Grape News
We grow both Primitivo and Zinfandel at the winery where I work, so I talk about their genetic saga nearly every day, but this post at Shades of Grape filled in some of the historical details I didn’t know. I describe Primitivo, Zinfandel, and Tribidrag as identical twins: genetically the same, but distinguishable from each other in appearance and other characteristics.
Don’t get me wrong, I love it in California, and I love living in Sonoma County and working in the Napa Valley. But sometimes I wonder if I came here at exactly the wrong time. Behold, the 2025 Tasting Room Survey Report, which tells us that wineries east of the Rockies (everything other than California, Washington, and Oregon) are seeing the biggest increases in traffic and sales. Napa still has the highest average tasting room order, but it’s decreased $83 since 2023. Not that I’m considering moving, but since competent tasting room staff seems to be at a premium in that growing eastern region, at least I’ll have options if it comes to that.
Oh look, someone’s figured out that deporting crucial farm and hospitality workers isn’t a great idea. It’s like they thought there were white citizens waiting with bated breath to flood into low wage positions picking fruit, processing meat, washing dishes, and cleaning hotel rooms. There is another conversation to be had about the value we give to those jobs and the exploitation involved in hiring vulnerable people at immorally low wages, but in the meantime, can we just get rid of the narrative that immigrants are here to “steal our jobs?” And the one that tells us that all undocumented people are dangerous criminals?
An update on the Moises Sotelo arrest case:
A little news to calm the panic around Gen Z’s alcohol consumption habits: turns out they’re not as sober as we thought. Also I will continue to remind people that half the generation isn’t yet of legal drinking age and we’re still just emerging from them spending some formative years in the hellhole isolation of COVID, so I’m not sure we really know what they’re going to do.
Dan Petroski of Massican seems to concur, and advises us all to stop complaining and take a breath. He also weighs in on tariffs, immigration raids, and health claims.
Concrete changes toward diversity, equity, and inclusion from Remy Drabkin of Remy Wines over at the Eat Sleep Wine Repeat Podcast. PS I would really like to go to the Queer Wine Fest next year.
I would also like to go to the DTC Wine Symposium, but honest to goodness, how do people afford these things if they don’t have jobs that cover the costs?
This may finally push me over the edge into becoming a member at Ridge:
Some of my favorite wineries around the country sharing reciprocal wine club benefits? Yes, please. I don't even know how often I’d be able to visit these places, but the collaboration is awesome.
I am broke as a joke and can’t afford any more paid subscriptions to literally anything so I can’t read beyond the paywall on this, but as far as I can tell, I concur. Wine is complicated. It just is, and it’s fine. Some of us love that it’s complicated; it’s why we’re here. Other people can just enjoy it without knowing much about it, and that is also completely cool. There’s no need to get intimidated, and those of us who do get into the intricate details don’t need to be so precious about it.
Vineyard Maintenance
At least for the moment, I’m back on a regular writing schedule, and you can expect a post later this week about “structure” in wine, one of those concepts I’m never quite sure people understand when I talk about it in tastings. What does it mean, and why does it matter? I’ll also be part of the rotation in this month’s Wine Conversations series, where we’ll be talking about whether AI can replace sommeliers. Normally the idea of AI replacing human knowledge and creativity makes me want to run screaming, but I recently had a thought-provoking experience with AI, so my perspective might be someone more nuanced. Stay tuned. Thank you to those of you who renewed your paid subscriptions this week, and to all of you who engage here through likes, comments, shares, and subscriptions. The features below are my thank you to paid subscribers. Enjoy!
The Best Thing I Drank This Week
The weather has been absolutely gorgeous here and has blessedly not echoed last June’s twenty+ days over 100 degrees, but the warmth and sunshine has been calling me to mostly white and rosé wines.
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